Reconciliation Should Unite, Not Divide Conservatives

by Scott Luginbill14pcon December 11, 2015

BREITBART, By Michael Needham | November 21, 2015

...If pro-life leaders want to “pass strongest [reconciliation] bill possible with 51 Republican votes” they should join, not disparage, the Cruz-Lee-Rubio alliance. They should praise the likes of North Carolina’s Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), not gin up primary threats.

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In May, Republicans voted for a budget agreement that “affirmed the use of reconciliation for the sole purpose of repealing the President’s job-killing health care law.” It was a position that united an all-too-often fractured party. The promise to repeal Obamacare in its entirety delivered Republicans the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014.

As we explained back in May, the case for full repeal via reconciliation is straightforward.

The process of drafting and passing a reconciliation measure through both chambers would serve as a trial run. And as we’ve seen in recent months, a trial run is certainly needed. There is ample evidence that a one-provision repeal of all of Obamacare would be allowed by Senate rules, but proving that case should not wait until 2017...

...No conservative can sit on the sidelines as party elites content with managing the status quo divide us, and force us to fight for scraps on our respective issues. Right now, pro-life leaders are attacking the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for their commitment to “fully repeal[ing] Obamacare pursuant to Senate rules.”

If pro-life leaders want to “pass strongest [reconciliation] bill possible with 51 Republican votes” they should join, not disparage, the Cruz-Lee-Rubio alliance. They should praise the likes of North Carolina’s

Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), not gin up primary threats. If they are genuine, pro-life leaders must tell Senate Majority Leader

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that they will not support any reconciliation bill unless it “fully repeals Obamacare pursuant to Senate rules.” And we will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with leading pro-life groups in demanding the GOP leadership do everything they can to defund Planned Parenthood.

This is how conservatives win, by standing firm against leadership’s desire to divide and fragment the conservative base of the Republican Party. If we want 2017 to be as successful for conservatives as 2009 was for Barack Obama, we must get off the sidelines and unite around serious conservative policies.

Reconciliation isn’t a test for President Rubio or President Cruz – it is a test for the conservative movement, and one our nation cannot afford for us to fail.

Michael A. Needham is the chief executive officer of Heritage Action for America